FEMA estimates 25 percent of Florida Keys homes are gone

Published 7:26 am Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Search-and-rescue teams made their way into the Florida Keys’ farthest reaches Tuesday, while authorities rushed to repair the lone highway connecting the islands and deliver aid to Hurricane Irma’s victims. Federal officials estimated one-quarter of all homes in the Keys were destroyed.

Two days after Irma roared into the island chain with 130 mph winds, residents were allowed to return to the parts of the Keys closest to Florida’s mainland.

But the full extent of the death and destruction there remained a question mark because cellphone service was disrupted and some places were inaccessible.

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